I live and breathe with Lighting Up Profits which is edited by Paul Fisher and Erik Runkle. It's primarily for greenhouse growers but the same principles apply to any type of indoor growing.

Mike

Mike,

As far as I know, that book is no longer available, either new or used. If you know of a source for it, please tell us here.

Pippi,

"Can anybody recommend a book on "Growing under lights" that is in layman's language and has pictures along with printed instructions to help somebody that has never tried "growing under lights" before?"

I don't know if there is a book available that meets all of those requirements. It seems that a lot of "Growing under Lights" books are written for people who grow Marijuana (Cannabis), either for themselves or for profit.

The book, Indoor Gardening: How It's Done and What You May Not Know About It by Winnie David, has some interesting information in layman's language, but has no pictures and very little information on lighting.

The book, Gardening Indoors with H.I.D. Lights by George F Van Patten and Alyssa F. Bust has some good understandable information, but is limited to High Intensity Discharge lights, which are rather expensive. It does not cover fluorescent lights, which are probably more suited for you if you are just getting started in indoor growing under lights.

The book, Gardening Indoors with Soil & Hydroponics by George F. Van Patten covers a wide range of subjects, including all forms of lighting including fluorescent lights, but with no mention of LED lighting. I don't think that is a serious omission because LED lights for growing indoors are very new and probably not something you should start out with at this time in their development. LED lights probably have a "bright" future for indoor gardeners. (no pun intended -- well, maybe a little, grin.) I can't say that this book is purely in layman's language, because it lists the light requirements for various plants in mWm2 (milliwatts per square meter). I would have preferred it say foot candles, because that is what you read on most light meters. But, let's face it, there are some technical aspects of indoor growing that do involve some "nitty gritty" details.

Like I said, I'm not sure that the ideal book for you exists. Perhaps someone else has some suggestions. Van Patten has several other books, including Gardening Indoors, New Revised, but I don't have it, so I can't judge its contents.

ZM
(not associated with any product or vendor mentioned or linked)

ZM,

It's available here.

It's only $25 now, I paid the full price last year!

FWIW, I exchanged a couple of e-mails with Paul after I had the book and developed some questions.

There is a whole section dedicated to Daily Light Integral, arguably the basis of growing indoors (or outdoors). Shows how one foot candle of Sunlight, MH, HPS and Cool-White Fluros compare to each other in terms of PAR light. (No factor for LEDs, I don't know if .00144 is close or not but it seems to match some of X watts of LED equals Y watts MH claims.)

Mike

Mike,

Thanks for the link. I plan to buy the book. I don't know why I couldn't find it with Google.

ZM

Mike,

I received my copy of Lighting Up Profits yesterday and I really like the book. It is thin at only 98 pages, but the pages are fairly large and printed in color and there is a lot of information packed in there. It has an impressive collection of authors and I was pleased to see zinnias discussed in many places. (I am a zinnia hobbyist, and I grow zinnias indoors as well as outdoors). Thanks for the recommendation. I will be referring to this book a lot.

ZM

ZM,

Glad you like it. Behind my light, pH and ppm meters, it has been the best investment I have made.

Mike

Mike,

Just out of curiosity, what make and model of pH and ppm meters did you choose?

ZM

For the pH - Milwaukee PH55 Waterproof pH/Temp Tester
For the PPM - the HM TDS-3.

Mike